Team IMPACT

Baseball Kelsey Olsen

Hustlin' Rebels To Sign Local 13-Year-Old Boy

UNLV baseball partners with Team IMPACT to sign Jaiden Rector to NLI during "Signing Day" ceremony.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV baseball program, through Team IMPACT, will sign Jaiden Rector, a 13-year-old boy, to a National Letter of Intent during a "Signing Day" ceremony Friday at 6:15 p.m. at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, head coach Stan Stolte announced. 

Through Team IMPACT's program, Jaiden will become a member of the baseball team and will attend Hustlin' Rebel practices, games, team dinners, events and more. 

Jaiden, a Las Vegas native, was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes problems with breathing and digestion. In order to help his lungs, Jaiden must do daily breathing treatments to help relieve both mucus obstruction and reduce infection and inflammation in the airways. He loves baseball and basketball and his favorite athlete is Shaquille O'Neal (Shaq). Additionally, he loves to watch Stranger Things and hopes to visit Disney World soon. 

Jaiden recently celebrated his 13th birthday by going go-karting and spending time with his mom Ashley, his grandma Janet and his brother and sister. 

Team IMPACT is a non-profit headquartered in Boston, that connects children facing serious or chronic illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes. Since 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 2,300 children with more than 700 colleges and universities in 49 states, reaching over 60,000 participating student-athletes. The child joins the athletic team and the student-athletes join the child's support team. Throughout the journey, the child gains strength, camaraderie and support while the student-athletes experience lessons of courage, resiliency and perspective they can't learn in the classroom. 

Team IMPACT has more than 1,200 teams waiting to be matched with children, ages 5-16, who have been diagnosed with a serious or chronic illness and who could benefit from becoming a member of the team. If you know of a child who may be interested, visit goteamimpact.org for more information. 

-UNLV-
 
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